Inseparability - Marketing Management

Unlike the majority of physical products, services are often consumed at the same point and at the same time as they are produced e.g. a visit to the hairdresser’s where the hairdresser ‘produces’ the service while we are at the salon: production and consumption are simultaneous and producer and consumer are inseparable. In such a situation the person providing the service becomes important and in effect becomes the service product. This inseparability of consumer and service provider means that both provider and customer affect the ‘quality’ of the relationship. Inseparability places emphasis on the selection and training of the service provider’s personnel.

The service provider must also be careful to examine the circumstances and processes that can affect the quality of the relationship between provider and consumer, especially in the hairdresser example as it is a service that the provider wants the customer to return to on a regular basis.